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April 15, 2014

Two Quotes: Baseball And Writing

Two quotes from books I recently read:

Baseball is the slow creation of something beautiful. It is the almost boringly paced accumulation of what seems slight or incidental into an opera of bracing suspense. The game will threaten never to end, until suddenly it forces you to marvel at how it came to be where it is and to wonder at how far it might go. It's the drowsy metamorphosis of the dull into the indescribable.

Joshua Ferris, To Rise Again At A Decent Hour

Writing was great, he thought. You suffered and you agonized and you were beset by doubts and fears, and then you finished a book and left absolutely ecstatic, convinced that you were great and your book was great and your future was coming up roses.

That lasted for about a week, and then you realized that you were washed up, that you'd never do anything decent again, and look at you, you indolent slug, why were you just sitting around doing nothing? Why weren't you writing something?

Lawrence Block, Small Town

On April 10, Cleveland's Danny Salazar became the first pitcher in the modern era to record 10 strikeouts in fewer than four innings.

Same Old Story ("Jackie Bradley Jr. may be the best argument against making too much of small samples we've seen in some time.") (Howard Megdal, Sports on Earth)

My Life As A Cleveland Indian: The Enduring Disgrace Of Racist Sports Mascots (Jacqueline Keller, Salon)

Sins Of The Preacher: How Chad Curtis Went From Hero To Convict For Sexual Misconduct (Greg Hanlon, Sports on Earth)

Pat Tillman, The Boston Marathon And The Tale Of Two Anniversaries (Dave Zirin, The Nation)